CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) – A Charlotte mother said she will never forget the sound that came from her laundry room a few weeks ago.
“It was very, very loud, and it was like you’re watching this action-adventure movie with all of these bombs going off,” Jennifer Kasmer said. “And it was just one right after another after another after another.”
At first, she did not know from where the sound came.
“I’m, like, checking on the kids, checking on the dogs, making sure everybody in the house is OK,” she said.
She said she opened the door to her laundry room, shocked at what she saw.
“The washing machine was across the room,” she said. “It had no bolts. The whole top was completely off the side of it. There [were] nicks and dings in our wall from where the bolts looked like they had hit the walls and stuff.”
That was when she said she and her husband called the manufacturer, LG.
She said LG representatives told her they would escalate the case and someone would call her. But she said that call never came.
“They scheduled the first call, we didn’t get a call back,” she said. “Then we kept calling every single time that we were supposed to have a call back, and they said, ‘Unfortunately we can’t talk to you now that it’s been escalated. So, the only thing we can do is set up another call for 24 to 48 hours from now.’”
While she waited, Kasmer started doing research and learned there was a recall of LG washing machines back in 2012, which is the same year they bought theirs.
Their model number matched the one in the recall, but their serial number was not included.
“If you look online and see all of the different times that this has happened, it’s exactly the same situation as what happened to us,” she said. “So if they’re not willing to put that serial number as part of the recall, that means this is going to continue to happen to other people.”
Kasmer contacted an investigative reporter, who reached out to LG.
After that, the company issued the Kasmers a full refund.
In a statement, a spokesperson for LG blamed the age of the machine and an unbalanced load for the washing machine issue: “As we discussed, their washer was not part of any recall. After apparently working fine for a dozen years, this was a rare instance of excessive vibration from an unbalanced load. Thank you for reminding your viewers with any brand of washing machine about the importance of using the proper cycle and loading properly, particularly when washing bulky items.”
Contrary to the statement, Kasmer said she was not washing bulky items.
“It was a really, like, small load,” she said. “It wasn’t even halfway up the tub.”
She purchased a new washing machine and filed a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Kasmer said her goal is to get this serial number recalled.
“I just want to make sure that everyone is safe and that this doesn’t happen to them within their homes where you think you’re safe and secure,” she said.
Consumers can report safety concerns about products to SaferProducts.gov.
Copyright 2024 WBTV via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.